Damn. And right as I have a nice pile of grading to look forward to, I find out that the 100 point scale is proprietary information. How ever will I assign marks, now that Arpy's handing out lawsuits to those stealing his amazingly original scoring system?

Salil wrote:Damn. And right as I have a nice pile of grading to look forward to, I find out that the 100 point scale is proprietary information. How ever will I assign marks, now that Arpy's handing out lawsuits to those stealing his amazingly original scoring system?

Take a page out of the Nigel Tufnel book and grade out of 101-point scale, Salil!

Salil wrote:Damn. And right as I have a nice pile of grading to look forward to, I find out that the 100 point scale is proprietary information. How ever will I assign marks, now that Arpy's handing out lawsuits to those stealing his amazingly original scoring system?

Well...there is the RobertParker 100-pt scale. There is the WineSpectator 100-pt scale. There is the WineEnthusiast 100-pt scale.There is the Connoisseur'sGuide 100-pt scale. If you look at the verbage/garbage/words associated w/ each scoring range, they areall different. So...clearly... the various 100-pt scales are all vastly different. If Galloni was using his own 100-pt scale, he's fine.If he was actually using Parker's 100-pt scale....he's in deep $hit. Of course...the TomHill 100-pt scale is the only definitive one!!!Tom

Yes, I would think that, while Parker has no intellectual property rights to the methodology of his scoring system, he holds copyright over his detailed description of it. Were AG to quote that verbatim (or close to it), without permission, Parker would have every right to come down hard on him.

Jono Beagle's hundred point scoring system.0-29/100 not worth bothering with30-49/100 good wine but I wouldn't buy a case50-59/100 very good showing grape and terroir character60-69/100 excellent example of a wine from this country/region/grape70-85/100 one of the very best wines that the region has to offer.86-100/100 [i] one of the very best wines you are ever likely to drink

It's worth noting that Robert Parker's system is really a 50-100 point system. All wines start with 50 points, and then additional points are added based on scoring various characteristics of the wine. This lets the system line up with the percentage grading system used in most American elementary and high schools:

The lowest point score that I recall ever being published in The Wine Advocate was 52, for a wine that Parker described as "the vinous equivalent of Liquid Plumber". I had the misfortune to taste that wine (California cabernet sauvignon shouldn't smell of stewed Brussels sprouts) and I agree with the review comment. If I ever get to meet Parker again, I want to ask him what he awarded the two points for. Maybe to allow low-end room for potentially even more ghastly wines?

One thing that I missed from the early days of The Wine Advocate was the colorful reviews of poor wines. In the early days, Parker had a limited budget to buy wines, and had to review whatever he could get his hands on locally. Nowadays he only publishes the reviews for the good stuff, due mainly to limited space in his magazine. But he had a fine and entertaining turn of phrase for describing awful wines.

Case closed: Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate has dropped his lawsuit against former contributor Antonio GalloniLast month, the company announced it was to sue its former California critic Galloni for withholding tasting notes and for alleged fraud and defamation.

However, according to WineSearcher.com, the case against Galloni and his company All Grapes Media has been dropped.

Parker, a former lawyer, announced the development on The Wine Advocate’s bulletin board.

“We’re pleased to announce that The Wine Advocate and All Grapes Media have resolved all of our outstanding issues amicably and The Wine Advocate has withdrawn its lawsuit against Mr. Galloni and All Grapes Media,” Parker wrote.